Education in Chandigarh – An Introduction
Chandigarh virtually means “The fort of Chandi” named after the Hindu deity “Chandi” located in the adjoining city of Panchkula. Chandigarh the capital of Punjab and Haryana states is a union territory and came into existence on 1st November, 1966. It is planned by the famous architect Le Corbusier. The population of Chandigarh is 1.055 million of which male comprise 55% and female 45%. It has the highest per capita income in the country. Chandigarh has a literacy rate of 86.43% which is above the national average; the male literacy rate is 90.54% whereas the female literacy rate is 81.38%. The sex ration of Chandigarh is much below the national average.
School Education in Chandigarh
From the available Statistics Education in Chandigarh deserves due applauds. There are a total of 190 schools in Chandigarh, of which 106 are government schools, 7 are government aided schools, 71 private aided recognised schools and 6 Kendriya Vidyalaya/Navoday Vidyalaya/Air Force schools. The performance of Government schools is comparable to that of privately managed schools. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has transformed the environment of school education in Chandigarh. Schools in Chandigarh are either Model schools following English as the medium of instruction or Non Model Schools following Hindi as the medium of instruction. All performance indicators for the schools of Chandigarh under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan are worth appreciation. Chandigarh does not have its own School Board of Education, so they are affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education. Curriculum and text books prescribed by NCERT and CBSE and for Punjabi medium books of from Punjab School Education Board are followed.
Read about Education in Chandigarh
The senior secondary stage of school education in Chandigarh is characterised by two distinct streams – academic and vocational. In the academic stream, 26 subjects related to science, commerce and humanities are offered and under the vocational stream, 20 vocational courses related to various areas of economic activity are available.
Higher Education in Chandigarh
Education in Chandigarh is also excellent in the tertiary level of study. The education department of Chandigarh administration supervises the functioning of four government colleges in Chandigarh. All the colleges are affiliated to the Punjab University. Besides having courses in humanities, science and commerce, these colleges also have courses in contemporary courses like business administration and computer science. Some of the colleges also offer Post Graduate courses in Information Technology, Commerce, Public Administration, English, Economics, Instrumental Music, Vocal Music and Dance. Job oriented courses like Sales Management and Functional English are also taught.
Vocational study also runs parallel to the main stream education. The four main subject fields are, Home Science, Para Medical, Engineering, Commerce and Health. Chandigarh has a sufficient number of institutions of higher education. Be it in the medical, engineering, teachers training and a host of private run educational institutions.
Education in Chandigarh - Future
Education in Chandigarh is in the process of reaching its zenith. With a strong schooling base and with the establishment a few more prestigious institutions with private sector participation, it will evolve as a seat of learning for the students of the north zone.